Tryst with Kudremukh - Around Kudremukh

It was late in the evening when we reached Kudremukh. It was too late to do anything and we were tired after a long day on the road. We checked into the only hotel in town, Sahyadri Bhavan. We called it an early day and got an early start next morning. The first places to be visited were Hanumangundi, Ganga Moola and Varaha Thirta. They were the places that visited every time I visited Kudremukh when I was in college. It seemed only natural that I do that first this time around too. But first we needed permission from the Forest Department. With the forest around Kudremukh being declared a National Park, it would be trespassing to go anywhere into the woods without permission. The staff was really courteous. They seemed to really pleased that an old timer has come back to visit his home town (that's right, I was now an old timer there). After getting the permit and helping them with some computer trouble that they had, we set off to Hanumangundi.

Varaha Thirtha, Ganga Moola, and Hanumangundi are all on the same road a few miles apart. Hanumangundi is the farthest, so we decided to get there first and drive our way back as we visit the rest of the places. Before we hit any of the places we passed by a small falls called Kadambi Falls. I remembered stopping by this falls each time I drove past this point. True to tradition, I stopped this time too. It has been a while since it had rained, the falls was a trickle compared it to its normal intensity. It was still the same old Kadambi I had always known. We got out to get what might me my last look at the falls. I been here countless number of times before, but somehow I felt I hadn't been here enough and that I had squandered my chances to seeing more of it. As I let my eyes sink in as much of the view as I could we had visitors. They were so much a part of life in Kudremukh and our forays into the woods that I had completely forgotten about them. The monkeys chanced upon us, they were half a dozen of them. They looked at us with their inimitable curiosity. It was like they knew we were from here, but something about us didn't fit. Their hospitality was guarded, with due caution. I said to myself, "What kind of guests are we if we dont give anything to our hosts?" With a bag of goodies at our disposal I made them feel more thanked. At first the cookies had to be placed on the ground before they would venture to inspect it, but soon they were adventours to actually take it from our hands as we offered it to them.

After the little party with old friends. We parted ways and started towards Hanumangundi. Its a couple of hundred feet high waterfall that is less easily accessible any many other places close by. On my previous visit to this place, access to this place was nothing more than a two hundred feet steep decline one climbed down with only the low lying branches and the protruding roots of the trees for support. But this time we had steps to climb down. It made things a lot easier, but killed the challenge. I was hoping that I would get to get my hands soiled and dirty trying to get down there, but that was not. we simply climbed down the steps to get to the waterfall. But once I got there, the view put the sparkle back in my eyes. My only thought was "all these years, and we finally meet again". The falls had lost none of its magnificence. It was still the majestic king of its dominion. The fall is at the end end of the valley. In the afternoon, when the sun shines directly on it, the fine spray of the falls that can leave the most unromantic soul spell bound with its beauty and grace. For somebody who love the outdoors, camping, hiking and nature this was paradise. I spent over a hour there and wasnt done by any stretch of imagination. It was blissfully tranquil here. The steps that led back to the top was the only thing that betrayed the close proximity to civilization. The waltz of trees to the orchestra of the wind, the birds, the crickets and cicadas left me mesmerized. I saw the bubbling stream, the glorious waterfall and the thicket that guarded the secret paradise with moist eyes. I had to sit down, overcome by the beauty of the place. I would always miss this place. I always had, I just didnt know it till then. It was getting late, there were places I had to see. I wished I had more time to spend here. Any amount of time would be insufficient. I tore myself away from there as I climbed up, back to the kingdom of man.

Next stop was Ganga Moola. It is the birth place of two rivers Tunga and Bhadra. It is a remarkably unremarkable place. It is hard to believe that two rivers could possibly originate from the two trickles in side a small cave whose entrance is a feet and a half tall. It is said that one shouldn't try to trace the origins of a saint 'coz like that of a river that is going to be something completely unremarkable, and maybe even an antithesis of what the saint has come to epitomize. I dont know about the saints, but it sure is true of Ganga Moola.
We need to hike a shade less than a mile to get to the base of the thicket beyond which lies the cave that houses Ganga Moola. We pulled over from the road and walked the mile. At we walked towards the thicket we reached a vantage point. The view from here was breath taking! Here is a panoramic view of what I saw.


At the end of our little hike was the entrance to the thicket. The most impressive part of this was the strict defined boundary between the open spaces and the forest. It looked like someone had drawn a line forbidding the jungle to grow any further. There they were, all the trees in a single file like frontier soldiers ready for battle, waiting for the signal from their commander, waiting to scream the battle cry as they charged towards the enemy. If only we had the kind of discipline and restrain they seemed to exude. The trail continued into the thicket, as we walked into the thicket the sudden coolness and breeze had me stall for a moment. It was like walking into an air conditioned building on a hot day, except that this time it felt refreshing instead of relieving. The trail ended at the steps at the top of which lay the entrance to the Ganga Moola cave. It is when we got to there that we realized we didn't have a flash light. It was pitch dark inside. We couldn't make any details out. Using the camera's flash as a light source we gauged the contour of the cave, and the path we have to follow. However, with an entrance that was a feet and a half tall and give feet wide, you don't have too many options. Taking care not to soil or damage the camera or the camera case, we started crawling inside. I had to use the flash on more than one occasion to find my way. It was an extremely shallow cave, just 15 feet or so deep. At the end of the cave was an idol that was placed to mark the source of the rivers.  It was dark and damp inside. Inside, the cave roof was over 6 feet high, you could comfortably stand there (if you were shorter than 6 feet). One could hear the distinct sound of trickling water. The floor was wet. I knew that my shirt, trousers, hands and feet were soiled and dirty, but I couldnt care less. It felt great being in there. Surprisingly I felt no claustrophobia. Using the camera focus light as the illumination we had a good view of the place, but the hunt for the source of the trickling sound was fruitless. Having seen what we came for, we headed back to our car. The next stop was Varaha Thirta.

I was in for another surprise when I got to Varaha Tirtha's entrance, it was not to be. The entrance had disappeared! Actually the entrance had been... 'abandoned'. nature had reclaimed the entrance to the trail that led to the Varaha Tirtha. But I was not to be outdone that easily. After some scouring and searching I managed to recognize a faint underused trail. We followed the trail that continued from the main trail that was cut off when the entrance was closed. One has to be swift on the feet and careful about taking steps. That's ironical coz if you do one, then u cant do the other. Being swift on the feet leaves you little time to think about where your next step is landing. However, if you move too slow you are inviting all the leeches to latch on to you, but if you are too fast, the ground is slippery, and you are sure to have a bad fall. Its easier said than done, by the time I got back to the car, I had more than three of them on me and a fair sized blood stain on my socks. The place is definitely not for the squeamish, or the delicate kind.

My aunt, uncle, cousin and his wife visiting Kudremukh over 4 years ago. We went to meet with one of my mom's friends who lived in the hills. There was no motor-able road to their house, so we parked our cars just off the road and started walking through the plains to get to the house. The weather was wet, and the grass damp. Sure enough, its was fiesta for the leeches. We were constant plucking the them off our legs. At some point my cousin's wife saw a leech on her ankle and her hysteria broke loose. For some inexplicable reason, she was convinced that yelping, vigorously shaking hands (like one were drying it) and hopping on one foot would convince the leech to get off. And so, she proceeded with her theatrics in a attempt to mesmerize the leech into letting go of her leg. In our infinite wisdom, my cousin and I kinda figured that it wouldn't work. We tried to tell her that she should pluck the leech out, but she wouldn't do that. Finally my cousin had to hold her to keep her from kicking all about the place while I got the leech off her.
When we finally got to the end of trail, there were more surprises awaiting us. I was expecting the picnic spot that I had known Varaha Tirtha to be, but what I saw bore no semblance to my memories. This place had be truly 'abandoned'. Varaha Tirtha is called so thanks to a local legend that says that when Lord Varaha (Boar incarnation of Vishnu) descended on earth, there were certain place where he spent time. These places are considered holy places, and this one was supposed to be one of them, and hence the name. Over 20 years ago, there was an ancient idol of Lord Varaha at the site. It was stolen to be smuggled, but the culprit was apprehended in a village 20 miles away. The idol found its way to some museum somewhere. There were some smaller stone idols that replaced the big one.

At Varaha Tirtha, all we saw was wilderness. We tried making our way to the place where the idols were. It was not easy, all the land marks we knew were gone. With nothing more than a faint heuristic we made our way. When we actually reached the spot, it was virtually unrecognizable. The only thing that betrayed the previous incarnation of the spot was the small three feet waterfall that collected into a water-hole which overflowed into a brook. The idols were gone, so were the all the signs of civilization ever having known this place. It was weird, almost like my memories were fading even as I was standing there. Was I too late in getting here? Had I already lost somethings I cherished? I could see Varaha Tirtha slipping to obscurity in front of my eyes. I saw it with mixed feelings. One on side, I was glad that nature was returning, there still was hope that the forests could be preserved like virgin reserves. On the other side was my nostalgia, a tinge of regret that I couldnt see Varaha Tirtha like I knew it for one last time. Images of class picnics, clandestine afternoon getaways, family hangouts were fleeting past me and they were all I had to hold on to. What I saw before me was nothing like it. With a heavy heart, I made my way back to the car. It was getting late and we still had places to see. We drove back to Kudremukh town.